Trolley-harp.



W. STEWART.

, TROLLEY HARP. APPLIUMIION FILED 15.12.16, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1,1910.

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TROLLEY H ARP. APPLICATION FILED HAR. 16, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1, 1310.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WILLIAM W. STEWART, OF MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA.

TROLLEY-HARP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

Application led March 16, 1910. Serial No. 549,628.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. STEWART, a citizen of the United States,residing at Muskogee, in the county of Muskogee and State of Oklahoma,have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Harps, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to trolley harps and more particularly to meansfor enabling the trolley wheel or current collecting device to be guidedto the overheadwire in the act of replacing the wheel whenever the samehas been taken olf the wire, as, for instance, when the car has reachedthe' end of its trip and the trolley pole is reversed for the re turntrip.

The invention has for one of its objects to provide a novel form ofdevice for trolley harps which is normally held in inoperative positionand is adapted to be projected to operative position by a downward pullon the trolley pole ropes, so that the trolley wheel will be reliablyguided to the wire.

Another object of the invention is the provision of co-acting camsurfaces between the said guiding device and trolley harp for causingthe device to return to its normal inoperative position when the pull onthe trolley rope is released.

A further object is to improve the construction of the trolley harp soas to more eli'ectively retain the overhead wire on the wheel,especially when the car is passing around curves. l

Vith these objects in view, and others as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the invention comprises the various novel featuresofconstruction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully describedhereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appendedhereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of theinvention; Figure l is a side view of the trolley harp shown in uprightposition. Fig. 2 is a rear view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof the guiding or replacing device. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of thetrolley harp. Fig. 5 is a viewshowing the normal position of the guidingor replacing device with respect to the trolley wire. Fig. 6 is asimilar view showing the guiding or re lacing device in operativeposition. Fig. is a detail Sectional view on line 7 7 of Fig. l.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a trolley harp, which is mountedas usual on the upper end of a conductor pole l and in the harp is theusual wheel 2 mounted for rotation on a lixed axle 3 that has its endssupported in the arms 4 of the harp.

Mounted in the harp is a guiding or replacing device, designatedgenerally by B, which is in the form of a fork or U-shaped. structurehaving side members 5, which are capable of inward and outward yieldingmovement, and these arms are provided with openings 6 through which theaxle 3 extends, the axle thus forming a support for the device B. Themembers 5 are disposed between the sides of the wheel 2 and arms 4 ofthe harp, and sufficient space is provided for the free lateral movementof the members 5. The lower ends of these members 5 are connected by anapproximately semi-circular resilient portion 7, which is preferablyintegral with the said members, and the latter have their free endsformed into outwardly diverging lingers 8 at opposite sides of t'hewheel so that when the device is moved to operative position, one lingeror the other will engage the trolley wire and cause the latter to slidealong the nger and finally enter the groove of the wheel in the act ofplacing the wheel on the wire. Connected with the resilient portion 7 isan eye 9 or equivalent device for connection with the rope or cable 10by which the trolley pole is controlled and when a downward pull isexerted on this rope in opposition to the tension of the erectile springof the trolley pole, the device B will be thrown from the position shownin Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6. When the downward pull is removedfrom the rope l0, the device B is adapted to return automatically to itsnormal position. The automatic return of the device B is effected byco-acting cam surfaces between the side members 5 of the guiding deviceB and arms 4l of the trolley v conform to the projections 11. Then thedevice B is in the position shown in and 5, the projections 11 areseated in the rccesses 12 and when the device B is thrown to operativeposition7 the members 5 will be moved toward each other against thetension of the spring portion 7, because of the coacting cam surfacesbetween the device and trolley harp, and as soon as the pull is releasedfrom the rope 11, the tension oi the connecting portion 7 of the members5 will cause the projections 11 to slide back into the recesses 12.

In order to permit of the inward movement of the side members 5, of thedevice B there must be clearance at opposite sides of the trolley wheeland to prevent free lateral movement of the trolley wheel on the axleand to hold the wheel out ot' engagement with the device B, the harp isprovided with spring members 13 which'have annular terminal portions 14that engage the hub ot the wheel, the said members being preferably madeof copper so that in addition to their centering the wheel, act asbrushes for eiiecting a good electric connection between the wheel andharp. The front edges of the arms t of the harp are provided withinwardly extending` iianges 15 that terminate at the periphery ot thewheel adjacent the top thereof when the wheel is riding under thetrolley wire. The inner portions 16 oit these flanges overhang theiianges of the wheel and extend partially into the groove of the latterso that they prevent the trolley wire from riding out of the groove ofthe wheel when the car passes around curves in the track, and inaddition to thesel functions, the said portions 16 form stops forlimiting` the upward movement otl the guiding or replacing device B whenthe same is projected to operative position. It will be obvious that theconnecting curved portion 7 ot the device B is disposed under the harpwhen the said device is in operative position as shown in Fig. 6, andthis curved portion prevents the wire from being caught under the harpor wheel when the trolley pole is lowered from a point above the trolleywire, as when the trolley has jumped otl:i the wire.

The members'l are provided with openings 17 through which the coppermembers 13 extend, the said ends being bent laterally against. theflanges 15 and secured to the latter by rivets 18.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the advantages of thc construction and of the method ofoperation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to whichY the invention relates, and while I have de maintains the sameyieldingly in inoperative position and automatically returns itto suchposition, means connected with the `device for throwing the .same tooperative posi` tion, and fixed members on the harp 1arranged over theupper front portions of the wheel and spaced apart a fixed distance topermit the trolley wire to enter between them, said members serving asretainers for the wire and lforming stops for the device when inoperative position.

2. The combination of a trolley harp including spaced arms, an axlesupported by the arms, a wheel on the axle, a replacing device pivotallymounted on the axle and consisting or' resiliently connected armsdisposed between the arms of the harp and wheel, means between the armsof the device and Vharp whereby the resiliency of the device maintainsthe same yieldingly in inoperative position and automatically returns itto sueh position, means connected withV the'device for throwing the sameto operative position, and members on Y'the harp arranged to form stopsfor the device when in operative position, said members --being -xed onthe harp and permanently arranged to extend inwardly over the top of thewheel from opposite sides to retain the wheel on the trolley wire.

8. The combination of a trolleyharp including spaced arms, an axlesupported by the arms, a wheel on the axle, `a replacing devicepivotally mounted on the axle and consisting of resilient-ly connectedarms, means between the arms of the device and harp whereby theresiliency of the device maintains the same yieldingly in inoperativeposition and automatically returns it to such position, means connectedwith Vthe device for throwing the same to operative position,

members on the harp arrangedto form stops consisting of a single ieceforming the two side members connecteil by resilient portions and havingtheir free extremities formed into outwardly diverging wire engagingfingers, cam surfaces on the harp engaging the members of the device forpressing the members toward each other when they are moved from normalposition to automatically etfect the return of the device when thelatter is released, said surfaces having openings, an axle on the harpfor the wheel, said axle extending through the said openings to supportthe replacing device, and means connected with the device for throwingthe same to operative position.

5. The combination of a harp consisting of spaced arms, an axle on thearms, re-

cesses on the inner faces of the arms, a wheel on the axle, a pair ofconnected members disposed each between one side of the wheel andadjacent arm of the harp, each member having a projection normallyengaging in the recess of the adjacent arm, and means acting through themembers for yieldingly holding the projections in the recesses, and arope connected with the members to form an actuator therefor, and forguiding the movement of the trolley harp.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM W. STEWART. Witnesses:

J. E. WYAND,

CHAs. A. MooN.

